Them Blues Got To Me

I was born in Brooklyn..........1957 (sorry Paul Butterfield), my first memory of music is actually Al Jolsen, we had an old record player and my parents had a bunch of these old 78's by Jolley and I used to play with them (wish I had them now). My first taste of popular music came from my older brother Lee (RIP), who was in a Beatle band and had this huge guitar made by a company called Zim Gar (I kid you not). I would sit around and watch the band rehearsals and play air guitar. We moved out to suburbia in 1969, I remember sitting on the floor of our new house in Island Park with nothing but a little TV. We had to watch the Mets in the World Series, but our furniture hadn't been delivered yet so all we had was a portable black and white TV.

My brother once again opened a couple of doors for me, he brought home a couple of albums (you remember albums?) "The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper", Albert Kings "Live Wire Blues Power" and Santana's "First Album". I listened to them and said "I want a guitar". I bought a Univox Les Paul and started picking around, playing along to records. Then my brother got a job at the Action House, for those too young to remember, a who's who of the music world played the Action House (including Johnny Winter, Jethro Tull, Vanilla Fudge, and many more). One of the bands that played there was Edgar Winter and White Trash, and that became the first concert I ever saw. Well I really didn't see much of it because I wasn't allowed into the Action House, I was too young, but my brother let me hang by the stage door and peek in every once in a while.

I was playing music with friends and getting a bit better and then was forced to move with my family to Florida at 15 years old. Florida was hell, I hated it. But it did make me a better guitar player. I dropped out of high school, locked myself in my room and played guitar for six months. At 15 1/2 I got my drivers license, my GED, a 69 mustang and drove back to Island Park (my parents were not happy). I drove straight thru to NY, 22 hours and pulled up in front of the Ole Salt in West Hempstead where a friend was working. He let me in and I was dazzled by the guy playing guitar onstage, it was Donny Celenza, to this day one of my favorite Long Island guitar players.

Years went by and I was playing in various bands when I met a soundman (Dan Orza) who had a reahearsal studio in Island Park. We became friends and he invited me down to the studio one day and inside the studio jamming were Lou Carrollo and John Guido (RIP), two high school mates I hadn't seen in years. Some things are just meant to be.

My love for the blues has continued to grow, being bathed in Stevie Ray Vaughn's sweat at My Fathers Place was one major highlight, Lou and I were three feet away from him. But the highlights continue because the music continues. Lou and I got to play two nights in the coolest club on Beale Street in this years International Blues Challenge in Memphis, and we even made it to the finals.

We Long Islander's don't realize how lucky we are, we have a tremendous pool of amazingly talented players here and a series of venues to showcase them. I correspond with blues fans around the country and around the world, the majority have to travel an hour to hear any type of good music. How many theaters, clubs, pubs or bars with live music can you get to within 20 minutes of where you live? I can get to about 20, yea, it's good to be on Long Island, and it's good to hear and play the blues.

Howlin Howie Haber